Latex Thread Manufacturing - General Advise

Manufacturer: We are medium sized latex thread manufacturer just beginning production. We're still struggling to get optimization of the production process. A general comment from you would be highly appreciated.

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): "A general comment" is far from adequate as the latex thread extrusion is a complex process.

Anyway, here's my general advise:

1) The particle size of your compounding chemicals should be free from coarse particles especially for thread of smaller diameters. It should be below 3 micron.

2) The latex compound must be well matured at room temperature for a number of days depending on your cure recipe. This must then be followed by high pressure homogenizing,  deaeration under vacuum and filtered before use.

3) Dry and cure at between 15 to 20 minutes at 125°C to 130°C. You can also try a shorter cure at higher temperature followed by post curing at lower temperature at about 70°C.

If you need my full report on the "Manufacturing of Latex Thread", please let me know.